Disclaimer: I own none of it. Except Damien - he's mine. This fanfic was constructed from my memory of playing the XBox version of the game, and the dialog.tlk file from the PC version. It may have some mistakes... probably got continuity errors too... but add the fact the character's not acting like he should anyway, and it doesn't really matter, does it?
Author's note: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I am an evil person, and I couldn't resist it. You know Damien's the main character, he can't die. It's just how the hell does he survive that's bugging you, right? To this chapter, now... you know, I sincerely wish Damien's answers to Saul's questions were options in the game.
Daesereg: You know he will ^_^
arrow maker: This fast enough for ya?
Luthos: ^_^ I always liked Jolee's attitude, y'know. That's why I had so much fun with that chapter. Though I had so much more fun with this chapter, to be honest. As for Bandon... you'll see what happens to him in a few seconds, I'm sure.
Shadow39: Erm... you do realise this fic is PG-13? The reason for that is because I kept the f-word out of it. Kindly keep it out of the reviews... though "f***" is completely acceptable ^_^ I am, however, very pleased to have provoked such a vehement response.
_Data_: I figured someone'd say something if I just redeemed everyone. That and Bandon was an obstinate git who refused to do as I, the omnipotent author, told him. You saw he was all set to actually kill those Czerka, that wasn't in the script! So I had to get rid of him ^_^ glad you liked.
Majin Trunks: I also have Jedi Academy. I don't like it. It's just not KotOR, is it? I'm a Sith Lady - do you honestly think begging works on me? You have much to learn of the dark side.
Ozziegrl: Yes, I had to finish it right there... because I'm evil ^_^
NathanPostmark: I'm evil, that's how ^_^
Lord Valentai: Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I am especially grateful for the comments on my portrayal of Revan *bows* thankies. If you like changes to the storyline, however, just you wait for Manaan ^_^
Olafur: Hmm... you realise the Juhani romance only happens with a female PC? Well, I'm glad you like my fic anyway.
Xan: Yes, I had to leave it on a cliffhanger... because I'm EVIL! ^_^
Ta'al: Thanks. I was getting sick of reading all those pure-lightside-female-Revan fics... and while I am a fan of Carth/fem!Revan, I just am not one for running with the crowd ^_^
Master o Randomness: Thankies ^_^
dearthwing: Making demands of a Sith Lady? *laughs* well, I'm in a charitable mood, so here's what happens next ^_^
* * *
Chapter 6 - Sith Heart
"Thank you so much for giving me a second chance. As you can see, I didn't waste it." Bandon crowed triumphantly.
"Oh-" cough, "-but you did-" cough cough, "-waste it-" cough, "-Bandon." I hissed, gasping for breath.
Bandon seemed surprised I was still able to talk, "Are you still alive?" he asked, "I heard rumours you were heartless, but are they really true?" he demanded, laughingly.
I smirked darkly, "You-" cough, "-will never know." I reached up with my right hand and used the Force to choke him. My grip was so strong that I snapped his neck before he could really suffocate. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Bastila rushed to my side, the coat flying out behind her like a cloak, as she swooped down next to me. "Damien. How? How are you still alive?" she asked.
"I won't be... for... much longer... if you don't... heal me." I gasped weakly.
She placed her hand over my bleeding chest-wound, and I felt the Force flow through me, knitting the flesh together, and soothing some of the pain. I sighed with relief as she took her hand away from me, stained with blood, and stood up. I also picked myself up, "Thanks, Princess." I smiled, "I owe you my life."
"You owe me an explanation." she said flatly, "How did you survive?"
"I'll tell you en route. We need to take off for Manaan, as soon as possible."
* * *
In flight to Manaan, I was standing alone in the sleeping quarters, glaring at the torn hole in my shirt. I was wearing only my trousers. The offending shirt was sitting on the desk in front of me. My boots had become uncomfortable from all the hiking in the forest, so I had removed them and kicked them under the bed.
That shirt was the only one I owned that didn't look like I really had rooted it out of a trash compactor in the Tarisian Lower City. Now it looked, instead, like it had witnessed its wearer's bloody murder. Probably because if I were any normal person, it would have done.
I heard a tentative knock on the door. "Come in." I said calmly, looking up at the door.
The door opened and Bastila peered into the room. She blinked at my lack of a shirt, "Oh, this is probably a bad time." she muttered, turning to leave.
"No, it's ok, Princess." I said, "I don't mind."
Nervously, she entered the room and closed the door behind her, "So how did you survive Bandon's 'second chance'?" she asked.
"See, you're even learning to make jokes on my level, now." I said, "Bravo, Princess."
"Quit being evasive. I'm getting enough of that from our new Jedi friend." she said bluntly, "Do you realise, I simply asked why he came with us, and he prattled for half an hour about someone getting sucked into an engine turbine... and I think he made a rude remark about my breath!"
I sniggered, "Yeah, I like the old coot." I said, smirking, "Of course, he's too old for me - you're really more my type."
"Funny. Really funny." she said flatly.
I smirked.
"Now tell me how you survived." she persisted.
"It's not really that confusing if you think about it." I said, smirking.
"He ran his lightsaber through your heart. No human can survive that!" she snapped.
"He did not run his lightsaber through my heart." I said flatly.
"Oh, so his comment about you being heartless was accurate? And here I thought you had feelings for me?" she said snidely.
"I do have a heart, Princess. And it does beat only for you, I promise." I said, smirking, "It's just on the right side of my chest, rather than the left. It's a rare abnormality, but I'm not the only recorded human to have it."
She blinked, "Really?"
"I never did tell anyone, not even my closest friends. You never know who's going to try to stab you in the back... as we just witnessed." I said, smirking.
"I see." she said, frowning.
"When we last talked, you said you needed time to think... well?" I asked.
She suddenly realised she'd been staring at my chest, and deliberately looked at a random point on the wall that was elsewhere. "You have been patient with me, haven't you?" she asked. I nodded, though since she wasn't looking at me I don't think she saw it, "I suppose you deserve an answer. But you have to understand how difficult this is for me to say."
"Mmhm." was all the response I gave.
She sighed, "With all my training, I should be able to control myself better than this. But you're not anything like I expected. You're not like any man I've ever met before." she folded her arms and frowned, "I find myself watching you when I don't mean to. I'm thinking about you when I don't want to. It isn't supposed to be like this!"
I frowned, "What are you trying to say, exactly?" I asked.
"Every time I try to call on all my teachings to calm myself, they fail me." she said, still frowning at the wall, "You have such power, such passion! I don't know if it's due to the bond between us, but I'm drawn to you."
I didn't know how to take this - she'd been deliberately pushing me away and denying having any feelings for me, since I met her. I wasn't sure if she was actually implying what I thought she was, or if it were just wishful thinking on my part, "Are you interested in me or in my ability to use the Force?"
"The Force is a part of you, as is your power." she said, still looking at the wall, although now she was glaring instead of just frowning, "But that's not what attracted me to you. It's more than that." she sighed, "Maybe it's the bond we share. It gives us a certain... intimacy. If I could, I would return to Dantooine. I need to be away from this bond of ours. I need to weaken it. I need to be anywhere but near you!"
"You're that afraid of your feelings?" I asked innocently.
"What?" she asked, turning to face me, surprise and confusion clear in her expression.
"You're so scared of how you feel that you'd run away and hide from it if you could?" I asked, "You know, if you try to ignore your emotions, rather than confronting them, they'll just build up until you can't control them."
"I... I don't understand what you're saying." she said, frowning in confusion. Her eyes drifted down to my chest, and I almost laughed when she realised she was staring again and she turned sharply to stare at the wall as if it were fascinating.
"I'm saying... you can hide your emotions from other people, it's what Jedi are famous for, but if you try to hide them from yourself, you're only going to end up reaching a point when you can't contain them anymore." I walked over to her and turned her around to face me, "And besides, it's anger and hate that lead to the dark side. Not love. Love is not evil, or wrong in any way. I don't know why you're fighting it. Admit how you feel." I would have used Force persuasion in those last four words, if she had been anyone else. But for her, I couldn't do it - I just hoped she would do as I asked.
She looked off to her right, so as not to look at my face. "You're stronger that I am, and there's no point in telling me otherwise. You will be a great Jedi, I think. I hope." she frowned slightly, "In some ways you make me feel weak, like I am caught up in the wake of our destiny. But at the same time, you make me feel stronger, more alive."
"And I feel more alive when I'm with you." I said quietly.
"I realise now these feelings are part of the bond we share." she said - I could hear a slight hopeful tone in her voice, as if she was hoping she was right... or maybe she was hoping I would believe her. "The Jedi Council surely realised this; they knew my loyalty to the doctrines of our Order would be tested on this mission. By facing and overcoming my feelings for you I have learned a valuable lesson about control and the dangers of emotion. This is an important step in understanding the Force. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. But I felt it was important you know our... infatuation... was nothing more than the result of our powerful bond."
I rolled my eyes, "Princess, you're trying to rationalise the situation." I smirked, "Love is not rational. You're just scared to face the truth!"
She glared at me, "You're the one who can't face the truth! Malak has to be stopped. How can I do that if I let myself be blinded by my feelings for you?"
"How can YOU do that?" I asked. then I snorted, "Princess, somehow I doubt you can stop Malak by yourself. Your little fantasies of murdering the man may well give you the delusion that you can, but you can't. Definitely not alone. I will stop him... with the help of everyone on this ship. And I want you at my side when we face him."
"You... you mean it, don't you?" she asked, seeming to ignore the insults in my statement. "But how can I be sure you aren't making a mistake? I... I have to resist. I have to be strong for both of us."
I rolled my eyes, "You know I'm right, Bastila." I said, gently brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
She shook her head, causing said strand of hair to fall back into her face, "But I don't... I mean, I can't... Malak will..."
"Shut up and kiss me, you babbling fool." I said, pushing her back against the wall and leaning against her gently.
She blinked a few times, "Oh my." she whispered, then leaned towards me, to allow me to kiss her.
* * *
Several hours later.
I woke up to the sound of someone trying to slice the lock on the door. I glared at the lock, and it glowed red hot. I heard Mission yelp, "Sorry, Carth. Looks like you're sleeping in the medbay tonight. That's if Jolee'll let you." she said - I could hear the smirk in her voice.
"Hey, Damien!" Carth shouted through the door, "Wake up you lazy son of a Bantha!"
"Shut up." I hissed, sitting up. I glanced at Bastila, who was lying next to me. She must be a really heavy sleeper. "Go away." I growled in the general direction of the door.
"Why?" Carth asked.
"I can't explain with the innocent child listening in." I said, just loud enough to be heard through the door and no more.
"Hey, I ain't no kid!" Mission whined, "Oh, I get it. That's why Bastila's not in our quarters."
I blinked. "Ok, not so innocent, then." I muttered.
There was silence through the door. I assumed they had gone.
I wasn't sure how long I spent just watching Bastila's angelic sleeping face, before I realised she had opened her eyes at some point and was watching me, too.
"Morning, Princess." I glanced at the chronometer, "Well, actually, it's evening, galactic standard time, but that's beside the point."
She blinked a few times, "Oh... um." she suddenly blushed furiously, and sat up clutching the bed sheet to her chest, "I'm sorry." she muttered.
"Uh... sorry for what?" I asked.
"I... didn't mean- when I said- I wasn't-" she frowned, and decided talking wasn't going to work right now, so she tried to get off the bed.
I realised what she was talking about, and grabbed her around the waist, "Yeah, I had meant to ask. You do know my name's Damien, right?"
She blushed some more, and scowled at the floor. "I said I'm sorry, didn't I?" she asked quietly, "I wasn't thinking."
"I'd hope you weren't thinking by that point." I said, smirking. I hadn't thought it'd be possible for her to blush more, but she did. "So tell me why you said that name?"
"I... when I was younger, I saw holos of him. He looks a lot like you, actually. Just a childhood crush, really." she mumbled, thoroughly embarrassed.
I sniggered, "So the sweet innocent Jedi Princess had a childhood crush on Darth Revan?" I asked, smirking. I found the entire situation most amusing. I'm sure that fact in itself was unnerving her, considering I should be mad as hell.
"Y-yes." she muttered.
I smirked, "Well, I guess we're going to have to go again, to see if you can get my name right." I said brightly.
She blinked, "You- you're not mad?" she asked.
"Not really. I mean, it's me you just slept with, not some Sith, right?" I asked.
"I..." she blinked a few times, but then before she could say anything, the entire ship shook violently. "What was that?!" she asked, falling off the bed and dragging the bed sheets with her.
I leapt to my feet and was half dressed by the time she had picked herself up off the floor, "Felt like we're under attack." I said, throwing on my torn shirt because I couldn't be bothered rooting out an undamaged one in a hurry.
Her eyes widened, and then after a second she bolted for where her clothes were on the floor.
* * *
I reached the cockpit before she did, and leaned over the back of the pilot's chair, where Carth was glaring at the readouts. "What happened?" I asked.
Bastila all-but flew into the cockpit and landed in the co-pilot's seat, "What's going on?" she demanded.
"Sith Interdictor ship." Carth reported, still glaring at the readouts, "They must have been waiting for us on the hyperspace route. We're caught in their tractor beam."
"Do you recognize the ship?" Bastila asked.
"It's the Leviathan." Carth said, sitting back in the pilot's seat - there was no point fighting an Interdictor ship's tractor beam with a ship as small as the Hawk. It would only burn out our engines. "Saul Karath's vessel. My old mentor."
I scowled, "This isn't good. The Leviathan may be under Saul's command, but it's Malak's flagship." I said. Same ship that fired on my own flagship a year ago.
"I do not sense his presence, however." Bastila noted.
Carth stood up abruptly, and stalked into the common room. I followed him and Bastila kept close behind me.
When we reached the common room, the rest of the Hawk's crew were already waiting for us, "We're caught in a Sith tractor beam, being dragged into the Leviathan." I stated flatly, "Admiral Saul Karath's vessel."
"Admiral Karath taught me everything I know about being a soldier." Carth informed us. I got the impression of a military briefing, and given the situation that impression was probably fairly accurate, "He was a legend in the Republic fleet, and a hero to me. Until he betrayed us. When the Sith attacked my home world, the Leviathan - which is Saul Karath's flagship - was at the head of the fleet. My family was destroyed that day and my wife died in the Sith bombardment."
"Don't let your lust for revenge cloud your judgment, Carth." I said, frowning, "Remember what I said on Dantooine."
"I'm not going to do anything stupid." Carth retorted, "I won't throw our lives away in some mad quest for vengeance. But if I get a chance to kill Saul during our escape, nobody better get in my way."
"Talk of an escape is somewhat premature, don't you think?" Bastila noted, "We don't even have a plan to get out of this mess yet!"
"I'll admit it won't be easy." Carth said defensively, "Saul's no fool and he won't underestimate us either. You can count on plenty of guards watching every move we make."
"Maybe Admiral Karath doesn't know how many of us there are on board." Bastila suggested, "We all have special talents; talents we could exploit so that one of us could stage a rescue. We just have to figure out who has the best chance to avoid capture so that they can come and rescue us later. It's a long shot, but it's our only hope."
I nodded, "Admiral Karath will be watching the three of us very closely. One of the others is going to have to save us."
"Well, if we're going to pick someone to save our skins we better do it quick. In another minute we're going to have Sith troops marching up our loading ramp!" Carth warned.
"HK-47 - are your emergency reboot protocols available?" I asked.
"Statement: Those functions have not been tampered with, therefore one can assume that they are fully operational, master."
I nodded, "Then set reboot sequence for half an hour, engage primary autonomy protocols, your mission is to locate and deactivate whatever holding cells will be used for the crew of the Ebon Hawk. Deadly force is authorised, only if absolutely necessary to achieve this goal. Understood?"
"Answer: Understood, master. Reboot protocol and mission statement set. Deactivating." the glowing lights in its eyes faded as it deactivated. Although, it maintained a powerful grip on the Mandalorian assault rifle it seemed to have adopted since my return from Kashyyyk's Shadowlands.
"Hold on, they're dragging us into the docking bay." Carth informed us.
As the ship landed jerkily, I scowled, "Shouldn't we at least put up a fight for show?" I asked, "They'll be suspicious if we just come quietly."
I did notice the way Bastila blinked at that. "Indeed." she said in a deliberately measured tone, "We should show some token resistance."
"But no one's authorised to get themselves killed in the process." I added. Mission giggled at that.
When the Sith boarded the ship, I was standing at the top of the embarkation ramp waiting for them. I sent the first few soldiers flying with Force wave. Mission opened fire with one of the blasters that had previously belonged to Calo Nord (the other half of that pair of blasters had gone to Carth). Juhani leapt out into the middle of the Sith and lashed out with her lightsaber - she was quickly subdued, and I'm sure she threw that fight. Carth threw a stun grenade, and started shooting at another group of Sith away from where Juhani had leapt to.
Jolee seemed to find great amusement in watching the Sith twirling in midair thanks to his Force whirlwind. I raced down the ramp and started shredding Sith with my lightsaber. I had left the ship just in time to avoid a stun grenade that knocked out Mission, Carth and Jolee. Canderous charged down the ramp behind me, and proceeded to hack at random Sith with Naga Sadow's poison blade and the black vibroblade that had been in Ajunta Pall's tomb - those must have hurt.
Canderous was eventually subdued by a dark Jedi who cast Force stasis. I removed said dark Jedi's hand for him. I turned to face a strong dark presence behind me, only to find a blaster pointed at my forehead. I froze. This was Saul. I deactivated my lightsaber, and dropped it, holding my hands in the air, and shrugged, "Hey, you didn't expect me to give up without a fight, did you?" I asked innocently.
"In fact, I expected - and hoped - you to give me provocation to shoot you." Saul said coldly.
"I'm not that stupid." I said flatly.
"Not quite. But close." Saul retorted.
"I'm also not stupid enough to rise to that bait." I said, calmly, "Witness my surrender. You've caught me. Yay for you." I deadpanned.
Saul glared. Then light footsteps drew my attention to the embarkation ramp. Bastila stepped off the Leviathon, holding her lightsaber defensively. "It appears you have us significantly outnumbered and outgunned, Admiral Karath." she said calmly.
"It would be smart of you to surrender." Saul said flatly, "Unless you want your friend's brains splattered across the docking bay."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Princess. I'm sure you've figured out I'm totally brainless, already, anyway." I said cheerfully.
Bastila shook her head, "I cannot believe you are making jokes at a time like this!" she snapped.
"Believe it, Bastila." I said brightly. I then, very suddenly, grabbed Saul's wrist and twisted it - I heard a cracking sound, and the blaster fell to the ground. I heard the sound of Bastila's lightsaber slicing through metal, but I wasn't looking in her direction to see what she had done.
Then I was hit hard by what I can only assume was a stun baton, in the back of my neck. I lost consciousness.
* * *
I awoke in a deactivated torture cell. The forcefield that prevented me from stepping out of the torture cell was, however, fully active. I was wearing only my underwear, and both Bastila and Carth were in torture cells to my right in similar states of undress. "Hey, Princess. What happened?"
"One of the Sith hit you with a stun baton. I was then incapacitated by one of their dark Jedi." she stated calmly.
I nodded, "I thought it felt like a stun baton."
At that point the door hissed open, "Carth, it has been far too long since we last spoke." Admiral Saul Karath said as he entered the room we were held in. "I see the recent months have not been kind in your case. I barely recognized you."
"But I recognized you, Saul." Carth said coldly, "I see your face every night even as I promise myself I will kill you for what you did to my home world."
"Did you learn nothing in your time under me?" Saul asked, smirking evilly, "As a soldier you should understand that casualties were unavoidable. This was an act of war."
"It was a cowardly act of betrayal!" Carth yelled, "Your fleet bombed a civilian target into oblivion without warning or provocation. And the blood of those innocent people is on your hands!"
"In war even the innocent must die." Saul said, shrugging. Those deaths had meant nothing to him. "The Sith would not accept me until I proved I had truly turned my back on the Republic by bombing the planet."
"My wife died in that attack, Saul." Carth growled dangerously, "And for that, I swear I'll kill you."
"You used to be a man of action, not of empty words." Saul said, amused, "Cling to your lust for revenge if you must, but spare me your tired threats. I've heard them all before. You are an insignificant part of these events, anyway. Lord Malak is far more interested in your Jedi companions. He has great plans for them."
"We will never serve Malak or the dark side!" Bastila said proudly, "The Sith will be destroyed, Admiral Karath... as will you if you don't turn away from this path."
"Your words are brave, Bastila, but the lure of the dark side is hard to resist - or so I've been told." Saul said, smirking. "I wonder if your companion is as devoted to the light as you are?"
"Go jump in a Sarlaac pit, you Bantha-snot." I snapped.
"You're defiant." Saul said, "I'm certain Malak will find your loyalty to the Jedi amusing."
"Hey, who said anything about loyalty? I just don't like you, Karath." I said viciously.
"The Dark Lord would probably reward me if I just killed you once and for all." Saul noted, "But he may want to question you given the trouble you've caused him... and the history between you."
"Drop dead, Rancour breath." I said, in a too-cheerful voice so manic-sounding I think Jorak Uln would have been awed by it.
"The Dark Lord will no doubt torture you for information and for his own twisted pleasure." Saul said, in what I'm sure he thought was a taunting tone, "Eventually you will tell him everything. The Sith can be very persuasive. However, Lord Malak is in another sector. It may be some time before he arrives, so I suppose I will have to fill in for him until then. Activate the torture fields."
Pain is an understatement. Bastila's shrieks and Carth's yells were ringing in my ears. But I bit my lip and endured it. I wasn't going to give this creep the satisfaction of hearing me scream.
"Enough! I don't want them to pass out before I question them." Saul said eventually, "Malak will appreciate any information I can give him when he arrives."
"Don't waste your breath, Saul! We won't answer any of your questions." Bastila snapped.
"I'm sure you won't." he said, smirking, "However, we both know your friend's loyalties have proven in the past to be somewhat... flexible."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, smirking coldly, "Just how flexible are you, Karath? I mean, your head is pretty far up your own ass."
Carth sniggered.
"I am interrogating you, not the other way around." Saul snapped acidly, "You will answer questions, not ask them. It is time to put your loyalty to the test. I doubt torturing you will gain me your true cooperation. Your will is too strong to be broken that way. However, even the strongest of heroes has trouble watching those they care about suffering. The interrogation will begin now. Each time you refuse to answer or give me a false answer, Bastila will suffer."
I feigned indifference, though it hurt to even say it, "Go ahead, torture her. I don't really like her anyway."
"You expect me to fall for such a transparent ploy?" Saul asked sceptically, "You travel half way across the galaxy with someone and you expect me to believe you feel nothing for each other? I tire of these games - now I want answers! On what planet is the Jedi Academy at which you were trained?"
"Academy?" I asked, in my too-innocent tone, "Hmmm... give me a second - I definitely remember being trained at an academy. Yes. I'll tell you."
"No!" Bastila shrieked.
"It's on Korriban. Yes, I went to the academy on Korriban!" I said, nodding, and keeping a straight face. Carth sniggered again, and even Bastila snorted slightly.
"What?" Saul asked, confused. Then he got the 'joke'. "I- I was asking you about the JEDI academy! Not the Sith academy! Very well. This is the price of your resistance."
Bastila's torture field was activated, and she shrieked in pain. I winced and avoided looking at her.
"Enough!" Saul eventually said, "You see what happens when you try to defy me?"
"My pain is meaningless. Tell him nothing!" Bastila snapped.
"This first question was a test." Saul said coldly, "Obviously Malak knew the Academy was on Dantooine, and it has since been destroyed by our fleet! Dantooine is an empty graveyard now. Nothing remains but a smoking ruin and the charred remains of your former Masters!"
I shrugged, "I never liked them anyway." I lied.
"A brave front, but your feigned indifference does not fool me." Saul said, smirking, "Your masters are eradicated, along with any hope of someone rescuing you! Now... tell me your mission. How were the Jedi planning on using you to stop Lord Malak and our Sith armada?"
"'Mission'?" I asked, "Yes, I can tell you about Mission." An evil grin spreading across my face. I made eye-contact with Bastila, and she stifled another snort of laughter. "She's the blue Twi'lek who was travelling with us. Her name's Mission. She's great at Pazaak, and could dish out insults better than a drunken Rodian. She's also-"
"Silence!" Saul snapped, "Perhaps you need a reminder of the consequences of refusing to cooperate."
Bastila's torture field was activated, and she shrieked even louder than before. A few coherent words escaped her amongst the shrieks. She was begging for the pain to stop. I closed my eyes and scowled.
"Listen, can you not hear her suffering?" Saul asked, tauntingly. Then he deactivated the torture field. "You can spare her further pain by simply answering my questions. Now, I will ask again - on what mission did the Jedi Council send you?"
"You don't know what suffering is, old man." I hissed, "But you will, when I get my hands on you."
"Perhaps another lesson is in order?" Saul said brightly.
After a full two minutes of Bastila's screaming, she passed out.
"I am surprised she did not pass out sooner. Rarely have I seen someone withstand such punishment and remain conscious." Saul said, matter-of-factly.
"Karath." I snarled angrily, glaring at him - I saw fear flash across his face for a fraction of a second, purely at the glare I was giving him. "I won't kill you. That pleasure shall be Carth's. But you would be surprised what you can live through. These 'torture fields' are nothing. Childrens' toys. And you will feel my full wrath. It's not a pretty thing, I assure you."
Saul snorted, "I see I am wasting my time here. When Malak arrives you will learn my interrogation techniques are considered merciful among the Sith."
"And Malak's worst is merciful compared to what you're going to get!" I snarled.
"I will leave you here in your cell with a small taste of the horrors you will suffer when Lord Malak arrives." Saul said, smugly. Then the torture fields activated and all I was aware of was the sound of Carth's screaming, and the electric pain ripping through me.
* * *
It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to open my eyes. There was dried blood where I had bitten my lip too hard. And worse, my throat was raw - I must have screamed at some point, I can't remember it clearly enough.
The first thing I heard when I came to was Bastila's voice, "Don't try to move too quickly, you might not be fully recovered yet. Admiral Karath had his guards continue to torture you even after you passed out."
"They tortured all of us, though you got the worst of it by far." Carth said, "Saul wanted them to make us suffer. He's become some sort of sadistic monster."
"The dark side has perverted him, Carth." Bastila said coldly, "Once you start down the tainted path it leads you ever further into the depths of evil. I fear he is forever lost."
"No one is without hope of redemption, Bastila." I said quietly. It hurt to speak, too.
"Yes, hmm, I suppose you are correct." she admitted, "Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of that hope in the face of such unbridled cruelty, but you speak the truth. I suppose I'm taking the news of Dantooine's destruction quite hard. First Taris, now the Academy... is there no end to the killing?"
"Taris was hardly the first." I noted, "It's hard to believe the Jedi Masters are gone, though." Should I tell her that I warned the Jedi Masters last time I was on Dantooine? No, let it be a pleasant surprise when this is all over.
"I'd like to believe that Saul was lying to us, but even as he said the words I knew they were true. The Academy is gone." she sighed, "We should have felt a disturbance in the Force when the attack came. The fact that we did not is a bad sign. I fear the dark side is growing stronger, casting shadows our vision cannot pierce." Or, maybe they got away and we didn't feel the disturbance because there were no deaths involved? "I can only hope that some of the Jedi escaped. Vrook, Vandar, Zhar... I cannot imagine all of them being gone. In any case, we have lost our one place of refuge in the galaxy."
"None of this will matter if we don't get out of this prison before Saul gets back!" Carth noted.
"I'm not afraid of that creep." I said flatly.
"Saul mentioned that Lord Malak was on his way." Bastila said, frowning, "I think the Admiral left to prepare for his arrival... and to report the results of our interrogation. It is fortunate you were able to resist the Admiral's questioning. The fate of the galaxy could be changed by revealing the slightest piece of vital information." After a moment's silence, she sighed and said, "I have to confess something. There was a moment - just a moment - when part of me was hoping you would tell him what he wanted to know. Just to make the horrible pain stop."
"I'm sorry, Princess." I said, closing my eyes, "I didn't want to hurt you." then I whispered, "I always end up causing more harm than good, don't I?"
"Wh-what did you say?" she asked, frowning.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions... and I'm bloody sick of pretending I've forgotten." I said flatly, eyes still closed.
"Y-you... you remember...?" she asked - she sounded terrified.
"Who I am. Yes. I've known since Taris, Princess." I said, finally opening my eyes and smirking darkly at her, "Now you know."
She shivered, "I... I thought you had lost your memory?" she asked.
"Someone care to tell me what you two are talking about?" Carth interrupted.
"It's the big secret I told you you'd kill me if you knew." I said flatly.
"You mean she knew?" he asked.
"And she thought I didn't know." I said, smirking.
"I'm confused now." Carth said, sighing.
"I'll bet." I said flatly.
Suddenly, the doors opened, and HK-47 was standing there. The forcefields released us.
"You may be a droid, but when this is all over I'm going to see the Republic gives you a medal for your part in this!" Carth said to HK, as the other crewmembers appeared from the other cells. Carth, Bastila and I appeared to be the only ones who had been stripped of our clothing, although Mission was without her usual blaster, Canderous' swords had been confiscated, and Juhani and Jolee both lacked lightsabers.
"Hey, guys." Mission said brightly, "I thought it'd take longer than this to get out. Cool." she peered outside the door and blanched, "Did HK do that?" she asked.
"Do what?" I asked, frowning.
"There's a pile of dead Sith out there." she said quietly.
"Answer: Yes, I eliminated those meatbags." HK-47 said proudly. "They were in my way." it added by way of an explanation.
"Hmmm..." I said, sighing, "I suppose it'd have been less bloody if I'd asked someone else to deal with it, huh?" I asked Bastila.
"I'm sure." she said, also sighing, "Your pet droid is more trouble than it's worth."
"Objection: I am not a pet." HK snapped, "I am a highly skilled protocol and combat droid."
"Bastila, I made the thing - I know how to deal with it." I said, "It does not take kindly to insults."
"Oh, so that's why you bought it?" she asked acidly.
"One reason... but I really did want to screw over Czerka." I noted.
Bastila's eyes suddenly widened, "That reminds me..." she said angrily, "You knew, when we...?"
I blinked innocently, "Yes."
"So when I said- you knew- and you let me think that- oh, you...!" she stormed off into the storage room, where she immediately rooted out her Jedi robes and put them on.
I followed, and found my own clothes. "Hey, it was funny to see the look on your face, Princess." I said, smirking as I threw my coat on, "And for what it's worth." I located my green lightsaber and clipped it to my belt, "I'm sorry."
"So you should be." she hissed, finding her own lightsaber and attaching it to her belt.
I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me, "Listen, Princess. I love you. That's not going to change. So what if I like to drive you up the wall? It's partly because I like to sit on the ceiling."
She sniggered slightly, "Why can't I stay mad at you?" she asked.
"Because you love me too?" I suggested.
"You are full of yourself, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes." I said, nodding. She smiled. When I finally broke eye-contact with her, I realised Carth was already dressed too, and had his pet blaster in his hand.
"If I remember the layout of this ship, the bridge is the only place we can open the docking gates of the hangar where they've got the Ebon Hawk. We have to open those gates before we can fly out of here!"
"We better get moving." Bastila agreed, "I can feel the darkness of Malak's presence approaching, and I don't want to be here when he arrives. None of us is a match for the Sith Lord."
"I'm not afraid of Malak." I said, smirking.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't be so sure of yourself. Malak has grown much stronger over the last year." she said to me, "It would be suicide to face him here! We need to get away before he arrives."
"We need to get to the bridge as quickly as possible, then." I smirked, "Maybe we should take HK with us?" I joked.
"NO!" Bastila snapped, "That demented droid will draw too much attention to us!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure Malak'd hate to be called a meatbag..." I said, smirking at HK-47. The droid's eyes flashed at me.
Bastila rolled her eyes yet again, "Surprise and secrecy will serve us best." she said pointedly, "A small group might have a better chance of sneaking onto the bridge undetected while the others make their way down to the Ebon Hawk."
"Count me in, then." Carth said, right away, "I've got a score to settle with the Admiral before we get off this ship, and I have a feeling I'm gonna find him on the Leviathan's bridge!"
"Careful, Carth. There's more at stake than personal revenge." I asked.
Carth folded his arms, sulkily.
"That's true, Carth." Bastila noted, "You can come, but don't let your hatred of Saul Karath jeopardize our true mission: getting the Ebon Hawk safely off the Leviathan." I smirked smugly as Carth continued to sulk.
"The rest of you lot get back to the Hawk." I said, "I'm sure there's some meatbags need blasting on the way down there." I told HK - the droid nodded.
"Don't you worry about that." Canderous said, "I know how to deal with the guards. They won't know what hit them!"
"We'll meet you there as soon as we get those docking bay doors open." Bastila said, "Just make sure the Hawk is ready to fly when we get there. And may the Force be with you."
* * *
Getting to the bridge was simple enough. We just avoided as many Sith as possible, and if we happened to run into anyone, Carth had shot them before either Bastila or I could react.
The only exception to this was when we ran into three dark Jedi. I did disarm them easily enough, and was about to try to talk to them - I know, I'm predictable - I just feel everyone deserves a second chance, so sue me. But Carth's hyperactive trigger-finger took out two of them right away. The third used Force choke on Bastila, and in my opinion that negated all chance he would have had of being spared - I removed his head with my lightsaber.
From that point, the path to the bridge was uneventful.
On the bridge, we encountered two guards with blasters, two Sith grenadiers, two dari Jedi, and one traitorous rat. "Very resourceful." Saul said calmly. That's the exact sort of smugness that turned Chuundar into a throw-rug. "I assume you had some part in this; you learned your lessons well from me."
"The only thing you taught me was betrayal and death, Saul." Carth growled, both his blasters already aimed for a head shot.
"Don't be a fool." Saul said coolly, "I am giving you and your companions a chance to surrender. A chance to live. Darth Malak himself is on his way, he will be arriving any moment."
"He speaks the truth, Carth. I can feel the Dark Lord's presence approaching." Bastila said, scowling.
"I sense it too." I said, but I didn't scowl - I kept all my feelings off my face.
"Malak will destroy you, but if you throw down your weapons now I will ask my Master to be merciful." Saul offered.
"I've seen enough of Sith mercy!" Carth snapped.
"Yeah, I think Malak's idea of mercy is a slightly less painful death than he would otherwise give, but still worse than your little game we played earlier, Karath." I said flatly.
"You always did like to do things the hard way." Saul said, glaring at Carth, "Lord Malak would have preferred live prisoners, but corpses will have to do."
I rolled my eyes, and without speaking I informed Carth and Bastila, *Carth, take out the foot-soldiers, Bastila and I will go after the Jedi. Save Saul for last*.
Carth blinked and gave me a surprised look, but then quickly started shooting at the guards. Bastila and I used the Force to send the dark Jedi flying, "I think it's you who's going to want to surrender." I hissed at them. They didn't listen, and charged at me with their lightsabers. That was officially their chance. Time to die. And they did, very quickly.
I glanced around to see that the four guards were dead on the floor. Carth stalked towards the admiral, who took aim to shoot Carth. I used the Force to make the admiral's blaster fly out of his hand, to me, and I pocketed it. Nice little toy, but not a particularly good weapon really. Saul took a few steps back, fearfully.
"Not so smug now, are you?" I asked, smirking. Saul glared at me. "Now, I'm going to keep my promise. Carth, can you not kill him just yet? I'll let you have your fun as soon as I've had mine."
Carth lowered his blasters, "Sure. Just so long as I get my revenge."
I nodded and held up my hand. A fairly spectacular-looking arc of Force lightening hit Saul in the chest - it was just a low enough voltage that it wasn't fatal, but would hurt at least as badly as the torture fields he had put us in. He screamed. Loudly.
Bastila, who had been fiddling with the computer console, looked up sharply, "Damien!" she snapped, "What are you doing?"
"It's called torture." I said calmly, "I figured he needed a lesson in the art - I mean, letting his victims lose consciousness is really sloppy." my words dripped with sarcasm, but I don't think she realised that.
"Stop it!" she demanded. I released the admiral from the Force lightening.
"Anything for you, Princess." I said sweetly. I was glaring at Saul, though, "I know a much better way to torture him, anyway." I gripped his jaw and forced him to look me in the eyes. It's common for a Sith to be able to cast fear into the mind of the enemy - I demonstrated that skill well enough on Carth's son. But to be able to cast other emotions into a mind takes much greater skill and concentration.
Pain. Not physical pain, but much stronger deeper emotional pain. It's impossible to create in another person's mind without knowing what it feels like. I wouldn't have been able to do it a day ago. But what he did to Bastila hurt me too. Add in a strong guilt-trip, thanks to Carth, and Saul literally started to cry. *All your fault, old man.* I thought, projecting it into his mind, *This is but a fraction of the pain you caused.*
He closed his eyes and tried to turn away from me. When I let him go he fell to the ground, in tears.
Carth stared, "What did you do to him?" he asked, stunned.
"I gave him a taste of the pain he caused." I said calmly, "Not that I could accurately simulate it in his mind - I'm sure I didn't get even close."
Carth frowned, "Why is he crying?" he asked, confused - I don't think he could bring himself to kill Saul when the man was in this state.
"Guilt." I said, scowling, "Even I didn't cry for the guilt I implanted in his mind - I couldn't implant something I hadn't experienced." I sighed slightly, and knelt next to Saul. I placed my hand on his shoulder and he winced. The contact dragged him out of the mental torture I had forced on him, and he looked up at me, terrified. "What have you to say for yourself now, Karath?"
"You were right." he hissed, "Your idea of torture is much worse than anything I have seen the Dark Lord do."
"By all logic, it's something you should have done to yourself long ago, Karath." I said quietly.
He shook his head, "No. I did what I had to do, and your Jedi mind tricks can't change my mind!" he snarled.
I sighed, "Have it your way." I stood up and stepped away from him, "He's all yours, Carth."
I walked over to the computer console Bastila was working at, and watched Carth and Saul from there. "Wait, Carth. Before... before you kill me. I have to tell you something."
Carth warily walked over to Saul, who whispered something to him. Carth stepped back, staring at Saul as if he had two heads, "You're lying." his hissed.
Saul laughed, "You didn't know, did you?" he asked. "Remember my last words whenever you look at those you thought were your friends!" from a pocket in his jacket, Saul produced a plasma grenade, which he activated. Carth barely leapt out of the blast radius in time to avoid being killed by it. Saul must have thought he would at least take Carth with him by doing that.
Bastila jumped at the sound of the explosion, "What the-?" she asked.
"He's gone. He said... it can't be true, can it? No. No... no - it can't! Damn you, Saul! Damn you!" Carth yelled, picking himself up.
"What did he say, Carth?" I asked warily.
Carth glared at me, "It is true, isn't it?" he demanded.
"Depends what it is he told you." I noted.
"That you're- you're-"
"Revan." I said flatly, wincing as I said it, and looking away from him.
"You are?!" Carth asked, backing away from me. He then turned an accusing glare on Bastila, "And... and you knew! You and the whole damn Jedi Council. You knew the whole time!"
"Carth, it's not what you think. We had no other choice! Please, you don't understand..." Bastila pleaded.
"So make me understand!" Carth demanded, now pointing his blasters at me.
"Carth, if you want to shoot me, and have your vengeance for all the wrongs I've done, go ahead." I said, "You'll be dooming the galaxy to Malak's rule if you do, because I'm the only one who has a hope in hell of stopping him!"
"Please, Carth, I'm asking you to trust me. For just a little while longer." Bastila said, pressing a button on the control panel that released the docking bay doors.
"I'll trust you, Bastila but as soon as we're off this ship I expect some answers!" Carth demanded.
"Of course, Carth." she said, rushing to the door, "As soon as we get to the Ebon Hawk I'll explain everything."
* * *
I led the way down to the docking level, but suddenly felt... "Damn, he's here already." I whispered, staring through the wall to our right as I sensed Malak disembark from the transport ship docked between our current location and the hangar containing the Ebon Hawk.
Bastila's eyes widened, "We're too late." she squeaked, "Is there any other way around to the Hawk, Carth?" she asked.
"No, there's only one way through to the docking area." he said, scowling, "But hey, we've already got one Sith Lord hanging around with us, why not have another?" he asked sarcastically.
I glared at him, "Because, unlike Malak, I have no intention of killing you. Although your pissy attitude isn't doing much for my lack of homicidal tendencies." I snapped. He glared at me.
"This is no time to argue!" Bastila interrupted.
"You're right. If we're going to have to go past him, we may as well do it on our own terms." I said, nodding, "Bastila, you're bait. Carth, stay with her, and don't let him near her. I'll -" I activated my stealth belt and vanished, "-sneak around behind him, then when I distract him, you two get past him, and then we'll all be between him and the Hawk - the strategy from there is: run away. Can you do that?"
"Works for me." Bastila said, nodding. Carth continued to sulk, but nodded slightly.
I waited by the doors, and when Malak walked through them, I followed him, keeping my steps in time with his so he couldn't hear me. I watched Bastila, who clearly wasn't sure if I was still there, and looked scared. But she stood tall and held her ground, "Darth Malak!" she hissed.
"I hope you weren't thinking of leaving so soon, Bastila." Malak said, his tone containing the same type of veiled threat that Davik's had when he had told me I was his 'guest'. "I've spent far too much energy hunting down you and your companions to let you get away from me now." he glanced around, "Where is your 'friend', anyway? Has he abandoned you to my 'mercy'?" he asked, amused.
I smirked, and decided now was the right time to attack him. I drew my lightsaber, which killed the stealth field, and lunged at him. I hadn't expected him to react in time, but he did. He blocked me, and sent me flying backwards with Force push. I landed on my feet, and laughed, "Long time no see, Malak." I said brightly.
He snorted, "I had to see for myself if it was true. Even now I can hardly believe my eyes... tell me, why did the Jedi spare you? Is it vengeance you seek at this reunion?"
"Vengeance?" I asked too-innocently, "Don't see why I'd want vengeance. I mean, you only tried to kill me." I said, smirking. "Besides, this encounter wasn't my choice. I was just heading back to my ship." I added, pointing over my shoulder at the Hawk.
Malak rolled his eyes, "Whether you chose to be here is irrelevant. I shall now finish what I started, Reven. You will die here."
"That may be, but it certainly won't happen today." I said cheerfully. Malak took a swing at me with his lightsaber, and I leaned back to dodge it. The resulting lack of balance meant I fell, but I used the Force to catch me and leapt onto the ceiling.
Malak glared, "I hate when you do that." he muttered.
I laughed, "Gotta tell you something, Malak." I said cheerfully, as I blocked his attempt to strike me with his lightsaber, "The Sith got a few things right. But not as many as you'd like to think." I pushed off the ceiling, flipped over again, kicked Malak in the forehead and landed in front of him on my feet. "Passion does fuel the Force. It's amazing, really. But positive emotions give you much more power than negative." I said, laughing.
Malak took a swing at my neck. I ducked it and kicked out at his legs. He managed to lift his foot to avoid my kick, and stepped on my ankle, pinning me down.
I looked up at where Carth and Bastila had been, to see they were gone. I glanced behind me to see Bastila hesitating in the doorway, and Carth trying to convince her to leave without me, "Get gone, Princess!" I shouted.
Malak's blade hovered at my throat. I brought my own lightsaber up to hold his away, but he knocked it out of my hand with Force lightening. I should never have taught him that trick. I was unarmed and defenceless. "Time to die, Revan." Malak said, triumphantly.
I raised an eyebrow at him, "That's what you think."
But before I could cast Force lightening on his lightsaber, Bastila threw her lightsaber at Malak - he had to release me to block it. "This isn't over, Malak!" Bastila shouted, catching her weapon and holding it aggressively.
Malak seemed most amused, "Your friends do not give up easily, Revan; you always could inspire loyalty. But even the three of you together cannot stand against my power!"
I stood up and summoned my lightsaber back to me, "Says you, Metal Mouth." I said, smirking.
Malak sent both Bastila and I flying with Force wave. I landed unceremoniously on my ass, on the other side of the door. Bastila hit the door frame, and I was surprised she wasn't knocked unconscious, though I think she must have suffered some sort of brain damage from the impact, because she shouted to us, "I'll hold Malak off. You two get out of here! Find the Star Forge!" and she lunged at Malak, swinging her lightsaber viciously at him, with a war cry of, "For the Jedi!" Only a very brave, very foolish, or very insane person would attack a Sith Lord on her own.
I saw the victorious glint in Malak's eyes as I picked myself up. He blocked her attack with his lightsaber, and with a wave of his free hand, the door slammed closed in front of me. "No!" I shouted, rushing to the door. I tried to slice it, I tried to use the Force to open it, but nothing worked. "Damn it!" I yelled, hitting the door with my fist.
"Come on, we have to get to the Ebon Hawk!" Carth said, grabbing my arm.
"I'm not leaving her." I hissed, trying to pry the door open with my bare hands.
"Bastila doesn't stand a chance against Malak, but we can't help her. Not here." Carth said, dragging me away from the door. The only reason he was able to do so was because I knew he was right. "She sacrificed herself so we could get away. We can't let her sacrifice be in vain! Come on!"
I frowned and turned to follow Carth to the ship. There was nothing else I could do.
What is it about me that inspires people to take a suicide-dive at various Sith, for my sake? I mean, first there was that guy on the Endar Spire who fought Bandon to let me get to the escape pods... now Bastila takes on Malak himself, to let me get away.
* * *
"Where is Bastila? What happened on that ship?" Jolee asked, as soon as we had gotten a safe distance away from the Leviathan.
"We ran into Malak." Carth said, sighing, "He would have killed us, but Bastila sacrificed herself so we could get away."
"I could have beaten him if she hadn't distracted me." I muttered.
"You mean she's... she's dead?" Mission asked, horrified.
"Bah. Malak won't kill her, don't be foolish." Jolee snapped, "He'll want to use her battle meditation against the Republic. Turn her to the dark side and the Sith will always be victorious."
"We have to rescue her." I said. I was terrified that Malak would hurt her. Even if he was intent on turning her to the dark side - I know what he did to Bandon.
"Not so fast." Carth snapped, "We've got a bigger issue to deal with here. They deserve to know the truth about you. Do you want to tell them what Saul said, or should I?"
I smirked darkly, "Or, Misson or Jolee could tell you." I said.
"Wh-what?!" Carth spluttered.
Mission blinked, "I'm assuming he's talking about your big secret you told me on Dantooine?" she asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I already knew." Jolee said, smirking.
Carth groaned, "Who on this ship doesn't know Damien is really Darth Revan?" he demanded.
Juhani blinked, surprised, "Revan?!" she asked.
Canderous sniggered, "Makes sense." he noted.
T3-M4 beeped a few times. Translated, it said it was unaware of the fact I am Revan, but it makes no difference to it.
[Mission told me of your identity some time after we landed on Tatooine.] Zaalbar informed me. So I was right - Wookiees are good at keeping secrets.
Carth seemed to be lost for words. "You- are you people telling me that you don't care?!" he demanded, "The whole time we've been chasing after Malak we've had his old Sith Master right at our side; listening to our secrets; hearing our plans! How do we know Revan won't suddenly turn on us?!"
I rolled my eyes, and grabbed Carth's wrist, forcing him to point his pet blaster at my head, "Go on. Shoot me. I know it's what you want." I said flatly.
Everyone stared at me. "What?" Carth demanded, trying to pull his hand away from me. I didn't let go.
"You heard me. You told me not long ago you'd love to put a blaster to Revan's head. Well, was that all you wanted, or did you want to shoot Revan's brains out as well? Because here's your chance!"
"I... damn it, you know I can't do that!" he snapped, "You were right on the bridge of the Leviathan - you're the only one who can stop Malak. I can't kill you... yet."
I smirked darkly, "I'm glad you can see reason."
"You did ask me - very nicely - not to kill you right away when I found out your big secret." he said bitterly, pulling his hand away from me.
"And I'm thankful." I said, sighing slightly with relief.
"It, uh... it all makes sense now... Revan." Carth said, frowning, "I've watched you, I've seen your cruelty. I've seen your... your dark side. Hell, you almost killed my son! And now this! I don't know if I can trust you. Can any of us?"
I sighed, "I told you on Dantooine. You're right not to trust me. I'm dangerous, and I know what I'm capable of." I closed my eyes, "But I'm not your enemy anymore, Carth. I want to try to make up for what I've done."
"But... you're the one responsible for the death of my wife, the destruction of my home world! You destroyed my life!" Carth yelled.
"It was Saul Karath who commanded the fleet that attacked your people, Onasi." Canderous interrupted. I was surprised he was standing up for me, "And it was Malak who gave the order. You know this."
Carth glared at Canderous for this. I sighed, "That may be so, Canderous." I said, frowning, "But I was the one who told him Telos' shipyards were a tactical target to take out. He was the one who decided overkill would be fun, but I pointed him in that direction."
Canderous shrugged, "Suit yourself. I was just trying to point out the flaw in Onasi's logic."
"Thank you, Canderous. But I don't deserve it." I said, frowning at the ground, "I know it's my fault."
Carth seemed confused by this, "Are you saying you feel guilty for it?" he asked.
"There is no way I can apologise enough for it. And for the record, that mind-trick I pulled on Karath used the guilt trip I got after you told me what happened to your family, when we were on Dantooine."
Carth blinked, "Well, the others seem to trust you... and I don't see any other way that we can stop the Sith. And I suppose that Malak is the real enemy here... I really don't have any other choice, do I?"
I sighed, "I am sorry. I wouldn't have lied to any of you if I hadn't been afraid you'd react badly. I think Carth's proved my fears were well founded, huh?"
"Don't worry - I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of my assignments or this mission." Carth said flatly, "But don't forget: I've sworn an oath to defend the Republic! As long as this mission stays on course I'll stick with you. But I won't let you betray the Republic under any circumstances!"
"I won't betray the Republic again, Carth." I said, smiling, "I never make the same mistake twice."
"So I guess that's it then... we keep going." Carth said, determinedly, "We've still got one more Star Map to uncover if we're going to find that Star Forge and save Bastila, so let's do it before it's too late."
* * *
Author's note: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I am an evil person, and I couldn't resist it. You know Damien's the main character, he can't die. It's just how the hell does he survive that's bugging you, right? To this chapter, now... you know, I sincerely wish Damien's answers to Saul's questions were options in the game.
Daesereg: You know he will ^_^
arrow maker: This fast enough for ya?
Luthos: ^_^ I always liked Jolee's attitude, y'know. That's why I had so much fun with that chapter. Though I had so much more fun with this chapter, to be honest. As for Bandon... you'll see what happens to him in a few seconds, I'm sure.
Shadow39: Erm... you do realise this fic is PG-13? The reason for that is because I kept the f-word out of it. Kindly keep it out of the reviews... though "f***" is completely acceptable ^_^ I am, however, very pleased to have provoked such a vehement response.
_Data_: I figured someone'd say something if I just redeemed everyone. That and Bandon was an obstinate git who refused to do as I, the omnipotent author, told him. You saw he was all set to actually kill those Czerka, that wasn't in the script! So I had to get rid of him ^_^ glad you liked.
Majin Trunks: I also have Jedi Academy. I don't like it. It's just not KotOR, is it? I'm a Sith Lady - do you honestly think begging works on me? You have much to learn of the dark side.
Ozziegrl: Yes, I had to finish it right there... because I'm evil ^_^
NathanPostmark: I'm evil, that's how ^_^
Lord Valentai: Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I am especially grateful for the comments on my portrayal of Revan *bows* thankies. If you like changes to the storyline, however, just you wait for Manaan ^_^
Olafur: Hmm... you realise the Juhani romance only happens with a female PC? Well, I'm glad you like my fic anyway.
Xan: Yes, I had to leave it on a cliffhanger... because I'm EVIL! ^_^
Ta'al: Thanks. I was getting sick of reading all those pure-lightside-female-Revan fics... and while I am a fan of Carth/fem!Revan, I just am not one for running with the crowd ^_^
Master o Randomness: Thankies ^_^
dearthwing: Making demands of a Sith Lady? *laughs* well, I'm in a charitable mood, so here's what happens next ^_^
* * *
Chapter 6 - Sith Heart
"Thank you so much for giving me a second chance. As you can see, I didn't waste it." Bandon crowed triumphantly.
"Oh-" cough, "-but you did-" cough cough, "-waste it-" cough, "-Bandon." I hissed, gasping for breath.
Bandon seemed surprised I was still able to talk, "Are you still alive?" he asked, "I heard rumours you were heartless, but are they really true?" he demanded, laughingly.
I smirked darkly, "You-" cough, "-will never know." I reached up with my right hand and used the Force to choke him. My grip was so strong that I snapped his neck before he could really suffocate. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Bastila rushed to my side, the coat flying out behind her like a cloak, as she swooped down next to me. "Damien. How? How are you still alive?" she asked.
"I won't be... for... much longer... if you don't... heal me." I gasped weakly.
She placed her hand over my bleeding chest-wound, and I felt the Force flow through me, knitting the flesh together, and soothing some of the pain. I sighed with relief as she took her hand away from me, stained with blood, and stood up. I also picked myself up, "Thanks, Princess." I smiled, "I owe you my life."
"You owe me an explanation." she said flatly, "How did you survive?"
"I'll tell you en route. We need to take off for Manaan, as soon as possible."
* * *
In flight to Manaan, I was standing alone in the sleeping quarters, glaring at the torn hole in my shirt. I was wearing only my trousers. The offending shirt was sitting on the desk in front of me. My boots had become uncomfortable from all the hiking in the forest, so I had removed them and kicked them under the bed.
That shirt was the only one I owned that didn't look like I really had rooted it out of a trash compactor in the Tarisian Lower City. Now it looked, instead, like it had witnessed its wearer's bloody murder. Probably because if I were any normal person, it would have done.
I heard a tentative knock on the door. "Come in." I said calmly, looking up at the door.
The door opened and Bastila peered into the room. She blinked at my lack of a shirt, "Oh, this is probably a bad time." she muttered, turning to leave.
"No, it's ok, Princess." I said, "I don't mind."
Nervously, she entered the room and closed the door behind her, "So how did you survive Bandon's 'second chance'?" she asked.
"See, you're even learning to make jokes on my level, now." I said, "Bravo, Princess."
"Quit being evasive. I'm getting enough of that from our new Jedi friend." she said bluntly, "Do you realise, I simply asked why he came with us, and he prattled for half an hour about someone getting sucked into an engine turbine... and I think he made a rude remark about my breath!"
I sniggered, "Yeah, I like the old coot." I said, smirking, "Of course, he's too old for me - you're really more my type."
"Funny. Really funny." she said flatly.
I smirked.
"Now tell me how you survived." she persisted.
"It's not really that confusing if you think about it." I said, smirking.
"He ran his lightsaber through your heart. No human can survive that!" she snapped.
"He did not run his lightsaber through my heart." I said flatly.
"Oh, so his comment about you being heartless was accurate? And here I thought you had feelings for me?" she said snidely.
"I do have a heart, Princess. And it does beat only for you, I promise." I said, smirking, "It's just on the right side of my chest, rather than the left. It's a rare abnormality, but I'm not the only recorded human to have it."
She blinked, "Really?"
"I never did tell anyone, not even my closest friends. You never know who's going to try to stab you in the back... as we just witnessed." I said, smirking.
"I see." she said, frowning.
"When we last talked, you said you needed time to think... well?" I asked.
She suddenly realised she'd been staring at my chest, and deliberately looked at a random point on the wall that was elsewhere. "You have been patient with me, haven't you?" she asked. I nodded, though since she wasn't looking at me I don't think she saw it, "I suppose you deserve an answer. But you have to understand how difficult this is for me to say."
"Mmhm." was all the response I gave.
She sighed, "With all my training, I should be able to control myself better than this. But you're not anything like I expected. You're not like any man I've ever met before." she folded her arms and frowned, "I find myself watching you when I don't mean to. I'm thinking about you when I don't want to. It isn't supposed to be like this!"
I frowned, "What are you trying to say, exactly?" I asked.
"Every time I try to call on all my teachings to calm myself, they fail me." she said, still frowning at the wall, "You have such power, such passion! I don't know if it's due to the bond between us, but I'm drawn to you."
I didn't know how to take this - she'd been deliberately pushing me away and denying having any feelings for me, since I met her. I wasn't sure if she was actually implying what I thought she was, or if it were just wishful thinking on my part, "Are you interested in me or in my ability to use the Force?"
"The Force is a part of you, as is your power." she said, still looking at the wall, although now she was glaring instead of just frowning, "But that's not what attracted me to you. It's more than that." she sighed, "Maybe it's the bond we share. It gives us a certain... intimacy. If I could, I would return to Dantooine. I need to be away from this bond of ours. I need to weaken it. I need to be anywhere but near you!"
"You're that afraid of your feelings?" I asked innocently.
"What?" she asked, turning to face me, surprise and confusion clear in her expression.
"You're so scared of how you feel that you'd run away and hide from it if you could?" I asked, "You know, if you try to ignore your emotions, rather than confronting them, they'll just build up until you can't control them."
"I... I don't understand what you're saying." she said, frowning in confusion. Her eyes drifted down to my chest, and I almost laughed when she realised she was staring again and she turned sharply to stare at the wall as if it were fascinating.
"I'm saying... you can hide your emotions from other people, it's what Jedi are famous for, but if you try to hide them from yourself, you're only going to end up reaching a point when you can't contain them anymore." I walked over to her and turned her around to face me, "And besides, it's anger and hate that lead to the dark side. Not love. Love is not evil, or wrong in any way. I don't know why you're fighting it. Admit how you feel." I would have used Force persuasion in those last four words, if she had been anyone else. But for her, I couldn't do it - I just hoped she would do as I asked.
She looked off to her right, so as not to look at my face. "You're stronger that I am, and there's no point in telling me otherwise. You will be a great Jedi, I think. I hope." she frowned slightly, "In some ways you make me feel weak, like I am caught up in the wake of our destiny. But at the same time, you make me feel stronger, more alive."
"And I feel more alive when I'm with you." I said quietly.
"I realise now these feelings are part of the bond we share." she said - I could hear a slight hopeful tone in her voice, as if she was hoping she was right... or maybe she was hoping I would believe her. "The Jedi Council surely realised this; they knew my loyalty to the doctrines of our Order would be tested on this mission. By facing and overcoming my feelings for you I have learned a valuable lesson about control and the dangers of emotion. This is an important step in understanding the Force. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. But I felt it was important you know our... infatuation... was nothing more than the result of our powerful bond."
I rolled my eyes, "Princess, you're trying to rationalise the situation." I smirked, "Love is not rational. You're just scared to face the truth!"
She glared at me, "You're the one who can't face the truth! Malak has to be stopped. How can I do that if I let myself be blinded by my feelings for you?"
"How can YOU do that?" I asked. then I snorted, "Princess, somehow I doubt you can stop Malak by yourself. Your little fantasies of murdering the man may well give you the delusion that you can, but you can't. Definitely not alone. I will stop him... with the help of everyone on this ship. And I want you at my side when we face him."
"You... you mean it, don't you?" she asked, seeming to ignore the insults in my statement. "But how can I be sure you aren't making a mistake? I... I have to resist. I have to be strong for both of us."
I rolled my eyes, "You know I'm right, Bastila." I said, gently brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
She shook her head, causing said strand of hair to fall back into her face, "But I don't... I mean, I can't... Malak will..."
"Shut up and kiss me, you babbling fool." I said, pushing her back against the wall and leaning against her gently.
She blinked a few times, "Oh my." she whispered, then leaned towards me, to allow me to kiss her.
* * *
Several hours later.
I woke up to the sound of someone trying to slice the lock on the door. I glared at the lock, and it glowed red hot. I heard Mission yelp, "Sorry, Carth. Looks like you're sleeping in the medbay tonight. That's if Jolee'll let you." she said - I could hear the smirk in her voice.
"Hey, Damien!" Carth shouted through the door, "Wake up you lazy son of a Bantha!"
"Shut up." I hissed, sitting up. I glanced at Bastila, who was lying next to me. She must be a really heavy sleeper. "Go away." I growled in the general direction of the door.
"Why?" Carth asked.
"I can't explain with the innocent child listening in." I said, just loud enough to be heard through the door and no more.
"Hey, I ain't no kid!" Mission whined, "Oh, I get it. That's why Bastila's not in our quarters."
I blinked. "Ok, not so innocent, then." I muttered.
There was silence through the door. I assumed they had gone.
I wasn't sure how long I spent just watching Bastila's angelic sleeping face, before I realised she had opened her eyes at some point and was watching me, too.
"Morning, Princess." I glanced at the chronometer, "Well, actually, it's evening, galactic standard time, but that's beside the point."
She blinked a few times, "Oh... um." she suddenly blushed furiously, and sat up clutching the bed sheet to her chest, "I'm sorry." she muttered.
"Uh... sorry for what?" I asked.
"I... didn't mean- when I said- I wasn't-" she frowned, and decided talking wasn't going to work right now, so she tried to get off the bed.
I realised what she was talking about, and grabbed her around the waist, "Yeah, I had meant to ask. You do know my name's Damien, right?"
She blushed some more, and scowled at the floor. "I said I'm sorry, didn't I?" she asked quietly, "I wasn't thinking."
"I'd hope you weren't thinking by that point." I said, smirking. I hadn't thought it'd be possible for her to blush more, but she did. "So tell me why you said that name?"
"I... when I was younger, I saw holos of him. He looks a lot like you, actually. Just a childhood crush, really." she mumbled, thoroughly embarrassed.
I sniggered, "So the sweet innocent Jedi Princess had a childhood crush on Darth Revan?" I asked, smirking. I found the entire situation most amusing. I'm sure that fact in itself was unnerving her, considering I should be mad as hell.
"Y-yes." she muttered.
I smirked, "Well, I guess we're going to have to go again, to see if you can get my name right." I said brightly.
She blinked, "You- you're not mad?" she asked.
"Not really. I mean, it's me you just slept with, not some Sith, right?" I asked.
"I..." she blinked a few times, but then before she could say anything, the entire ship shook violently. "What was that?!" she asked, falling off the bed and dragging the bed sheets with her.
I leapt to my feet and was half dressed by the time she had picked herself up off the floor, "Felt like we're under attack." I said, throwing on my torn shirt because I couldn't be bothered rooting out an undamaged one in a hurry.
Her eyes widened, and then after a second she bolted for where her clothes were on the floor.
* * *
I reached the cockpit before she did, and leaned over the back of the pilot's chair, where Carth was glaring at the readouts. "What happened?" I asked.
Bastila all-but flew into the cockpit and landed in the co-pilot's seat, "What's going on?" she demanded.
"Sith Interdictor ship." Carth reported, still glaring at the readouts, "They must have been waiting for us on the hyperspace route. We're caught in their tractor beam."
"Do you recognize the ship?" Bastila asked.
"It's the Leviathan." Carth said, sitting back in the pilot's seat - there was no point fighting an Interdictor ship's tractor beam with a ship as small as the Hawk. It would only burn out our engines. "Saul Karath's vessel. My old mentor."
I scowled, "This isn't good. The Leviathan may be under Saul's command, but it's Malak's flagship." I said. Same ship that fired on my own flagship a year ago.
"I do not sense his presence, however." Bastila noted.
Carth stood up abruptly, and stalked into the common room. I followed him and Bastila kept close behind me.
When we reached the common room, the rest of the Hawk's crew were already waiting for us, "We're caught in a Sith tractor beam, being dragged into the Leviathan." I stated flatly, "Admiral Saul Karath's vessel."
"Admiral Karath taught me everything I know about being a soldier." Carth informed us. I got the impression of a military briefing, and given the situation that impression was probably fairly accurate, "He was a legend in the Republic fleet, and a hero to me. Until he betrayed us. When the Sith attacked my home world, the Leviathan - which is Saul Karath's flagship - was at the head of the fleet. My family was destroyed that day and my wife died in the Sith bombardment."
"Don't let your lust for revenge cloud your judgment, Carth." I said, frowning, "Remember what I said on Dantooine."
"I'm not going to do anything stupid." Carth retorted, "I won't throw our lives away in some mad quest for vengeance. But if I get a chance to kill Saul during our escape, nobody better get in my way."
"Talk of an escape is somewhat premature, don't you think?" Bastila noted, "We don't even have a plan to get out of this mess yet!"
"I'll admit it won't be easy." Carth said defensively, "Saul's no fool and he won't underestimate us either. You can count on plenty of guards watching every move we make."
"Maybe Admiral Karath doesn't know how many of us there are on board." Bastila suggested, "We all have special talents; talents we could exploit so that one of us could stage a rescue. We just have to figure out who has the best chance to avoid capture so that they can come and rescue us later. It's a long shot, but it's our only hope."
I nodded, "Admiral Karath will be watching the three of us very closely. One of the others is going to have to save us."
"Well, if we're going to pick someone to save our skins we better do it quick. In another minute we're going to have Sith troops marching up our loading ramp!" Carth warned.
"HK-47 - are your emergency reboot protocols available?" I asked.
"Statement: Those functions have not been tampered with, therefore one can assume that they are fully operational, master."
I nodded, "Then set reboot sequence for half an hour, engage primary autonomy protocols, your mission is to locate and deactivate whatever holding cells will be used for the crew of the Ebon Hawk. Deadly force is authorised, only if absolutely necessary to achieve this goal. Understood?"
"Answer: Understood, master. Reboot protocol and mission statement set. Deactivating." the glowing lights in its eyes faded as it deactivated. Although, it maintained a powerful grip on the Mandalorian assault rifle it seemed to have adopted since my return from Kashyyyk's Shadowlands.
"Hold on, they're dragging us into the docking bay." Carth informed us.
As the ship landed jerkily, I scowled, "Shouldn't we at least put up a fight for show?" I asked, "They'll be suspicious if we just come quietly."
I did notice the way Bastila blinked at that. "Indeed." she said in a deliberately measured tone, "We should show some token resistance."
"But no one's authorised to get themselves killed in the process." I added. Mission giggled at that.
When the Sith boarded the ship, I was standing at the top of the embarkation ramp waiting for them. I sent the first few soldiers flying with Force wave. Mission opened fire with one of the blasters that had previously belonged to Calo Nord (the other half of that pair of blasters had gone to Carth). Juhani leapt out into the middle of the Sith and lashed out with her lightsaber - she was quickly subdued, and I'm sure she threw that fight. Carth threw a stun grenade, and started shooting at another group of Sith away from where Juhani had leapt to.
Jolee seemed to find great amusement in watching the Sith twirling in midair thanks to his Force whirlwind. I raced down the ramp and started shredding Sith with my lightsaber. I had left the ship just in time to avoid a stun grenade that knocked out Mission, Carth and Jolee. Canderous charged down the ramp behind me, and proceeded to hack at random Sith with Naga Sadow's poison blade and the black vibroblade that had been in Ajunta Pall's tomb - those must have hurt.
Canderous was eventually subdued by a dark Jedi who cast Force stasis. I removed said dark Jedi's hand for him. I turned to face a strong dark presence behind me, only to find a blaster pointed at my forehead. I froze. This was Saul. I deactivated my lightsaber, and dropped it, holding my hands in the air, and shrugged, "Hey, you didn't expect me to give up without a fight, did you?" I asked innocently.
"In fact, I expected - and hoped - you to give me provocation to shoot you." Saul said coldly.
"I'm not that stupid." I said flatly.
"Not quite. But close." Saul retorted.
"I'm also not stupid enough to rise to that bait." I said, calmly, "Witness my surrender. You've caught me. Yay for you." I deadpanned.
Saul glared. Then light footsteps drew my attention to the embarkation ramp. Bastila stepped off the Leviathon, holding her lightsaber defensively. "It appears you have us significantly outnumbered and outgunned, Admiral Karath." she said calmly.
"It would be smart of you to surrender." Saul said flatly, "Unless you want your friend's brains splattered across the docking bay."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Princess. I'm sure you've figured out I'm totally brainless, already, anyway." I said cheerfully.
Bastila shook her head, "I cannot believe you are making jokes at a time like this!" she snapped.
"Believe it, Bastila." I said brightly. I then, very suddenly, grabbed Saul's wrist and twisted it - I heard a cracking sound, and the blaster fell to the ground. I heard the sound of Bastila's lightsaber slicing through metal, but I wasn't looking in her direction to see what she had done.
Then I was hit hard by what I can only assume was a stun baton, in the back of my neck. I lost consciousness.
* * *
I awoke in a deactivated torture cell. The forcefield that prevented me from stepping out of the torture cell was, however, fully active. I was wearing only my underwear, and both Bastila and Carth were in torture cells to my right in similar states of undress. "Hey, Princess. What happened?"
"One of the Sith hit you with a stun baton. I was then incapacitated by one of their dark Jedi." she stated calmly.
I nodded, "I thought it felt like a stun baton."
At that point the door hissed open, "Carth, it has been far too long since we last spoke." Admiral Saul Karath said as he entered the room we were held in. "I see the recent months have not been kind in your case. I barely recognized you."
"But I recognized you, Saul." Carth said coldly, "I see your face every night even as I promise myself I will kill you for what you did to my home world."
"Did you learn nothing in your time under me?" Saul asked, smirking evilly, "As a soldier you should understand that casualties were unavoidable. This was an act of war."
"It was a cowardly act of betrayal!" Carth yelled, "Your fleet bombed a civilian target into oblivion without warning or provocation. And the blood of those innocent people is on your hands!"
"In war even the innocent must die." Saul said, shrugging. Those deaths had meant nothing to him. "The Sith would not accept me until I proved I had truly turned my back on the Republic by bombing the planet."
"My wife died in that attack, Saul." Carth growled dangerously, "And for that, I swear I'll kill you."
"You used to be a man of action, not of empty words." Saul said, amused, "Cling to your lust for revenge if you must, but spare me your tired threats. I've heard them all before. You are an insignificant part of these events, anyway. Lord Malak is far more interested in your Jedi companions. He has great plans for them."
"We will never serve Malak or the dark side!" Bastila said proudly, "The Sith will be destroyed, Admiral Karath... as will you if you don't turn away from this path."
"Your words are brave, Bastila, but the lure of the dark side is hard to resist - or so I've been told." Saul said, smirking. "I wonder if your companion is as devoted to the light as you are?"
"Go jump in a Sarlaac pit, you Bantha-snot." I snapped.
"You're defiant." Saul said, "I'm certain Malak will find your loyalty to the Jedi amusing."
"Hey, who said anything about loyalty? I just don't like you, Karath." I said viciously.
"The Dark Lord would probably reward me if I just killed you once and for all." Saul noted, "But he may want to question you given the trouble you've caused him... and the history between you."
"Drop dead, Rancour breath." I said, in a too-cheerful voice so manic-sounding I think Jorak Uln would have been awed by it.
"The Dark Lord will no doubt torture you for information and for his own twisted pleasure." Saul said, in what I'm sure he thought was a taunting tone, "Eventually you will tell him everything. The Sith can be very persuasive. However, Lord Malak is in another sector. It may be some time before he arrives, so I suppose I will have to fill in for him until then. Activate the torture fields."
Pain is an understatement. Bastila's shrieks and Carth's yells were ringing in my ears. But I bit my lip and endured it. I wasn't going to give this creep the satisfaction of hearing me scream.
"Enough! I don't want them to pass out before I question them." Saul said eventually, "Malak will appreciate any information I can give him when he arrives."
"Don't waste your breath, Saul! We won't answer any of your questions." Bastila snapped.
"I'm sure you won't." he said, smirking, "However, we both know your friend's loyalties have proven in the past to be somewhat... flexible."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, smirking coldly, "Just how flexible are you, Karath? I mean, your head is pretty far up your own ass."
Carth sniggered.
"I am interrogating you, not the other way around." Saul snapped acidly, "You will answer questions, not ask them. It is time to put your loyalty to the test. I doubt torturing you will gain me your true cooperation. Your will is too strong to be broken that way. However, even the strongest of heroes has trouble watching those they care about suffering. The interrogation will begin now. Each time you refuse to answer or give me a false answer, Bastila will suffer."
I feigned indifference, though it hurt to even say it, "Go ahead, torture her. I don't really like her anyway."
"You expect me to fall for such a transparent ploy?" Saul asked sceptically, "You travel half way across the galaxy with someone and you expect me to believe you feel nothing for each other? I tire of these games - now I want answers! On what planet is the Jedi Academy at which you were trained?"
"Academy?" I asked, in my too-innocent tone, "Hmmm... give me a second - I definitely remember being trained at an academy. Yes. I'll tell you."
"No!" Bastila shrieked.
"It's on Korriban. Yes, I went to the academy on Korriban!" I said, nodding, and keeping a straight face. Carth sniggered again, and even Bastila snorted slightly.
"What?" Saul asked, confused. Then he got the 'joke'. "I- I was asking you about the JEDI academy! Not the Sith academy! Very well. This is the price of your resistance."
Bastila's torture field was activated, and she shrieked in pain. I winced and avoided looking at her.
"Enough!" Saul eventually said, "You see what happens when you try to defy me?"
"My pain is meaningless. Tell him nothing!" Bastila snapped.
"This first question was a test." Saul said coldly, "Obviously Malak knew the Academy was on Dantooine, and it has since been destroyed by our fleet! Dantooine is an empty graveyard now. Nothing remains but a smoking ruin and the charred remains of your former Masters!"
I shrugged, "I never liked them anyway." I lied.
"A brave front, but your feigned indifference does not fool me." Saul said, smirking, "Your masters are eradicated, along with any hope of someone rescuing you! Now... tell me your mission. How were the Jedi planning on using you to stop Lord Malak and our Sith armada?"
"'Mission'?" I asked, "Yes, I can tell you about Mission." An evil grin spreading across my face. I made eye-contact with Bastila, and she stifled another snort of laughter. "She's the blue Twi'lek who was travelling with us. Her name's Mission. She's great at Pazaak, and could dish out insults better than a drunken Rodian. She's also-"
"Silence!" Saul snapped, "Perhaps you need a reminder of the consequences of refusing to cooperate."
Bastila's torture field was activated, and she shrieked even louder than before. A few coherent words escaped her amongst the shrieks. She was begging for the pain to stop. I closed my eyes and scowled.
"Listen, can you not hear her suffering?" Saul asked, tauntingly. Then he deactivated the torture field. "You can spare her further pain by simply answering my questions. Now, I will ask again - on what mission did the Jedi Council send you?"
"You don't know what suffering is, old man." I hissed, "But you will, when I get my hands on you."
"Perhaps another lesson is in order?" Saul said brightly.
After a full two minutes of Bastila's screaming, she passed out.
"I am surprised she did not pass out sooner. Rarely have I seen someone withstand such punishment and remain conscious." Saul said, matter-of-factly.
"Karath." I snarled angrily, glaring at him - I saw fear flash across his face for a fraction of a second, purely at the glare I was giving him. "I won't kill you. That pleasure shall be Carth's. But you would be surprised what you can live through. These 'torture fields' are nothing. Childrens' toys. And you will feel my full wrath. It's not a pretty thing, I assure you."
Saul snorted, "I see I am wasting my time here. When Malak arrives you will learn my interrogation techniques are considered merciful among the Sith."
"And Malak's worst is merciful compared to what you're going to get!" I snarled.
"I will leave you here in your cell with a small taste of the horrors you will suffer when Lord Malak arrives." Saul said, smugly. Then the torture fields activated and all I was aware of was the sound of Carth's screaming, and the electric pain ripping through me.
* * *
It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to open my eyes. There was dried blood where I had bitten my lip too hard. And worse, my throat was raw - I must have screamed at some point, I can't remember it clearly enough.
The first thing I heard when I came to was Bastila's voice, "Don't try to move too quickly, you might not be fully recovered yet. Admiral Karath had his guards continue to torture you even after you passed out."
"They tortured all of us, though you got the worst of it by far." Carth said, "Saul wanted them to make us suffer. He's become some sort of sadistic monster."
"The dark side has perverted him, Carth." Bastila said coldly, "Once you start down the tainted path it leads you ever further into the depths of evil. I fear he is forever lost."
"No one is without hope of redemption, Bastila." I said quietly. It hurt to speak, too.
"Yes, hmm, I suppose you are correct." she admitted, "Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of that hope in the face of such unbridled cruelty, but you speak the truth. I suppose I'm taking the news of Dantooine's destruction quite hard. First Taris, now the Academy... is there no end to the killing?"
"Taris was hardly the first." I noted, "It's hard to believe the Jedi Masters are gone, though." Should I tell her that I warned the Jedi Masters last time I was on Dantooine? No, let it be a pleasant surprise when this is all over.
"I'd like to believe that Saul was lying to us, but even as he said the words I knew they were true. The Academy is gone." she sighed, "We should have felt a disturbance in the Force when the attack came. The fact that we did not is a bad sign. I fear the dark side is growing stronger, casting shadows our vision cannot pierce." Or, maybe they got away and we didn't feel the disturbance because there were no deaths involved? "I can only hope that some of the Jedi escaped. Vrook, Vandar, Zhar... I cannot imagine all of them being gone. In any case, we have lost our one place of refuge in the galaxy."
"None of this will matter if we don't get out of this prison before Saul gets back!" Carth noted.
"I'm not afraid of that creep." I said flatly.
"Saul mentioned that Lord Malak was on his way." Bastila said, frowning, "I think the Admiral left to prepare for his arrival... and to report the results of our interrogation. It is fortunate you were able to resist the Admiral's questioning. The fate of the galaxy could be changed by revealing the slightest piece of vital information." After a moment's silence, she sighed and said, "I have to confess something. There was a moment - just a moment - when part of me was hoping you would tell him what he wanted to know. Just to make the horrible pain stop."
"I'm sorry, Princess." I said, closing my eyes, "I didn't want to hurt you." then I whispered, "I always end up causing more harm than good, don't I?"
"Wh-what did you say?" she asked, frowning.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions... and I'm bloody sick of pretending I've forgotten." I said flatly, eyes still closed.
"Y-you... you remember...?" she asked - she sounded terrified.
"Who I am. Yes. I've known since Taris, Princess." I said, finally opening my eyes and smirking darkly at her, "Now you know."
She shivered, "I... I thought you had lost your memory?" she asked.
"Someone care to tell me what you two are talking about?" Carth interrupted.
"It's the big secret I told you you'd kill me if you knew." I said flatly.
"You mean she knew?" he asked.
"And she thought I didn't know." I said, smirking.
"I'm confused now." Carth said, sighing.
"I'll bet." I said flatly.
Suddenly, the doors opened, and HK-47 was standing there. The forcefields released us.
"You may be a droid, but when this is all over I'm going to see the Republic gives you a medal for your part in this!" Carth said to HK, as the other crewmembers appeared from the other cells. Carth, Bastila and I appeared to be the only ones who had been stripped of our clothing, although Mission was without her usual blaster, Canderous' swords had been confiscated, and Juhani and Jolee both lacked lightsabers.
"Hey, guys." Mission said brightly, "I thought it'd take longer than this to get out. Cool." she peered outside the door and blanched, "Did HK do that?" she asked.
"Do what?" I asked, frowning.
"There's a pile of dead Sith out there." she said quietly.
"Answer: Yes, I eliminated those meatbags." HK-47 said proudly. "They were in my way." it added by way of an explanation.
"Hmmm..." I said, sighing, "I suppose it'd have been less bloody if I'd asked someone else to deal with it, huh?" I asked Bastila.
"I'm sure." she said, also sighing, "Your pet droid is more trouble than it's worth."
"Objection: I am not a pet." HK snapped, "I am a highly skilled protocol and combat droid."
"Bastila, I made the thing - I know how to deal with it." I said, "It does not take kindly to insults."
"Oh, so that's why you bought it?" she asked acidly.
"One reason... but I really did want to screw over Czerka." I noted.
Bastila's eyes suddenly widened, "That reminds me..." she said angrily, "You knew, when we...?"
I blinked innocently, "Yes."
"So when I said- you knew- and you let me think that- oh, you...!" she stormed off into the storage room, where she immediately rooted out her Jedi robes and put them on.
I followed, and found my own clothes. "Hey, it was funny to see the look on your face, Princess." I said, smirking as I threw my coat on, "And for what it's worth." I located my green lightsaber and clipped it to my belt, "I'm sorry."
"So you should be." she hissed, finding her own lightsaber and attaching it to her belt.
I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me, "Listen, Princess. I love you. That's not going to change. So what if I like to drive you up the wall? It's partly because I like to sit on the ceiling."
She sniggered slightly, "Why can't I stay mad at you?" she asked.
"Because you love me too?" I suggested.
"You are full of yourself, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes." I said, nodding. She smiled. When I finally broke eye-contact with her, I realised Carth was already dressed too, and had his pet blaster in his hand.
"If I remember the layout of this ship, the bridge is the only place we can open the docking gates of the hangar where they've got the Ebon Hawk. We have to open those gates before we can fly out of here!"
"We better get moving." Bastila agreed, "I can feel the darkness of Malak's presence approaching, and I don't want to be here when he arrives. None of us is a match for the Sith Lord."
"I'm not afraid of Malak." I said, smirking.
She rolled her eyes, "Don't be so sure of yourself. Malak has grown much stronger over the last year." she said to me, "It would be suicide to face him here! We need to get away before he arrives."
"We need to get to the bridge as quickly as possible, then." I smirked, "Maybe we should take HK with us?" I joked.
"NO!" Bastila snapped, "That demented droid will draw too much attention to us!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure Malak'd hate to be called a meatbag..." I said, smirking at HK-47. The droid's eyes flashed at me.
Bastila rolled her eyes yet again, "Surprise and secrecy will serve us best." she said pointedly, "A small group might have a better chance of sneaking onto the bridge undetected while the others make their way down to the Ebon Hawk."
"Count me in, then." Carth said, right away, "I've got a score to settle with the Admiral before we get off this ship, and I have a feeling I'm gonna find him on the Leviathan's bridge!"
"Careful, Carth. There's more at stake than personal revenge." I asked.
Carth folded his arms, sulkily.
"That's true, Carth." Bastila noted, "You can come, but don't let your hatred of Saul Karath jeopardize our true mission: getting the Ebon Hawk safely off the Leviathan." I smirked smugly as Carth continued to sulk.
"The rest of you lot get back to the Hawk." I said, "I'm sure there's some meatbags need blasting on the way down there." I told HK - the droid nodded.
"Don't you worry about that." Canderous said, "I know how to deal with the guards. They won't know what hit them!"
"We'll meet you there as soon as we get those docking bay doors open." Bastila said, "Just make sure the Hawk is ready to fly when we get there. And may the Force be with you."
* * *
Getting to the bridge was simple enough. We just avoided as many Sith as possible, and if we happened to run into anyone, Carth had shot them before either Bastila or I could react.
The only exception to this was when we ran into three dark Jedi. I did disarm them easily enough, and was about to try to talk to them - I know, I'm predictable - I just feel everyone deserves a second chance, so sue me. But Carth's hyperactive trigger-finger took out two of them right away. The third used Force choke on Bastila, and in my opinion that negated all chance he would have had of being spared - I removed his head with my lightsaber.
From that point, the path to the bridge was uneventful.
On the bridge, we encountered two guards with blasters, two Sith grenadiers, two dari Jedi, and one traitorous rat. "Very resourceful." Saul said calmly. That's the exact sort of smugness that turned Chuundar into a throw-rug. "I assume you had some part in this; you learned your lessons well from me."
"The only thing you taught me was betrayal and death, Saul." Carth growled, both his blasters already aimed for a head shot.
"Don't be a fool." Saul said coolly, "I am giving you and your companions a chance to surrender. A chance to live. Darth Malak himself is on his way, he will be arriving any moment."
"He speaks the truth, Carth. I can feel the Dark Lord's presence approaching." Bastila said, scowling.
"I sense it too." I said, but I didn't scowl - I kept all my feelings off my face.
"Malak will destroy you, but if you throw down your weapons now I will ask my Master to be merciful." Saul offered.
"I've seen enough of Sith mercy!" Carth snapped.
"Yeah, I think Malak's idea of mercy is a slightly less painful death than he would otherwise give, but still worse than your little game we played earlier, Karath." I said flatly.
"You always did like to do things the hard way." Saul said, glaring at Carth, "Lord Malak would have preferred live prisoners, but corpses will have to do."
I rolled my eyes, and without speaking I informed Carth and Bastila, *Carth, take out the foot-soldiers, Bastila and I will go after the Jedi. Save Saul for last*.
Carth blinked and gave me a surprised look, but then quickly started shooting at the guards. Bastila and I used the Force to send the dark Jedi flying, "I think it's you who's going to want to surrender." I hissed at them. They didn't listen, and charged at me with their lightsabers. That was officially their chance. Time to die. And they did, very quickly.
I glanced around to see that the four guards were dead on the floor. Carth stalked towards the admiral, who took aim to shoot Carth. I used the Force to make the admiral's blaster fly out of his hand, to me, and I pocketed it. Nice little toy, but not a particularly good weapon really. Saul took a few steps back, fearfully.
"Not so smug now, are you?" I asked, smirking. Saul glared at me. "Now, I'm going to keep my promise. Carth, can you not kill him just yet? I'll let you have your fun as soon as I've had mine."
Carth lowered his blasters, "Sure. Just so long as I get my revenge."
I nodded and held up my hand. A fairly spectacular-looking arc of Force lightening hit Saul in the chest - it was just a low enough voltage that it wasn't fatal, but would hurt at least as badly as the torture fields he had put us in. He screamed. Loudly.
Bastila, who had been fiddling with the computer console, looked up sharply, "Damien!" she snapped, "What are you doing?"
"It's called torture." I said calmly, "I figured he needed a lesson in the art - I mean, letting his victims lose consciousness is really sloppy." my words dripped with sarcasm, but I don't think she realised that.
"Stop it!" she demanded. I released the admiral from the Force lightening.
"Anything for you, Princess." I said sweetly. I was glaring at Saul, though, "I know a much better way to torture him, anyway." I gripped his jaw and forced him to look me in the eyes. It's common for a Sith to be able to cast fear into the mind of the enemy - I demonstrated that skill well enough on Carth's son. But to be able to cast other emotions into a mind takes much greater skill and concentration.
Pain. Not physical pain, but much stronger deeper emotional pain. It's impossible to create in another person's mind without knowing what it feels like. I wouldn't have been able to do it a day ago. But what he did to Bastila hurt me too. Add in a strong guilt-trip, thanks to Carth, and Saul literally started to cry. *All your fault, old man.* I thought, projecting it into his mind, *This is but a fraction of the pain you caused.*
He closed his eyes and tried to turn away from me. When I let him go he fell to the ground, in tears.
Carth stared, "What did you do to him?" he asked, stunned.
"I gave him a taste of the pain he caused." I said calmly, "Not that I could accurately simulate it in his mind - I'm sure I didn't get even close."
Carth frowned, "Why is he crying?" he asked, confused - I don't think he could bring himself to kill Saul when the man was in this state.
"Guilt." I said, scowling, "Even I didn't cry for the guilt I implanted in his mind - I couldn't implant something I hadn't experienced." I sighed slightly, and knelt next to Saul. I placed my hand on his shoulder and he winced. The contact dragged him out of the mental torture I had forced on him, and he looked up at me, terrified. "What have you to say for yourself now, Karath?"
"You were right." he hissed, "Your idea of torture is much worse than anything I have seen the Dark Lord do."
"By all logic, it's something you should have done to yourself long ago, Karath." I said quietly.
He shook his head, "No. I did what I had to do, and your Jedi mind tricks can't change my mind!" he snarled.
I sighed, "Have it your way." I stood up and stepped away from him, "He's all yours, Carth."
I walked over to the computer console Bastila was working at, and watched Carth and Saul from there. "Wait, Carth. Before... before you kill me. I have to tell you something."
Carth warily walked over to Saul, who whispered something to him. Carth stepped back, staring at Saul as if he had two heads, "You're lying." his hissed.
Saul laughed, "You didn't know, did you?" he asked. "Remember my last words whenever you look at those you thought were your friends!" from a pocket in his jacket, Saul produced a plasma grenade, which he activated. Carth barely leapt out of the blast radius in time to avoid being killed by it. Saul must have thought he would at least take Carth with him by doing that.
Bastila jumped at the sound of the explosion, "What the-?" she asked.
"He's gone. He said... it can't be true, can it? No. No... no - it can't! Damn you, Saul! Damn you!" Carth yelled, picking himself up.
"What did he say, Carth?" I asked warily.
Carth glared at me, "It is true, isn't it?" he demanded.
"Depends what it is he told you." I noted.
"That you're- you're-"
"Revan." I said flatly, wincing as I said it, and looking away from him.
"You are?!" Carth asked, backing away from me. He then turned an accusing glare on Bastila, "And... and you knew! You and the whole damn Jedi Council. You knew the whole time!"
"Carth, it's not what you think. We had no other choice! Please, you don't understand..." Bastila pleaded.
"So make me understand!" Carth demanded, now pointing his blasters at me.
"Carth, if you want to shoot me, and have your vengeance for all the wrongs I've done, go ahead." I said, "You'll be dooming the galaxy to Malak's rule if you do, because I'm the only one who has a hope in hell of stopping him!"
"Please, Carth, I'm asking you to trust me. For just a little while longer." Bastila said, pressing a button on the control panel that released the docking bay doors.
"I'll trust you, Bastila but as soon as we're off this ship I expect some answers!" Carth demanded.
"Of course, Carth." she said, rushing to the door, "As soon as we get to the Ebon Hawk I'll explain everything."
* * *
I led the way down to the docking level, but suddenly felt... "Damn, he's here already." I whispered, staring through the wall to our right as I sensed Malak disembark from the transport ship docked between our current location and the hangar containing the Ebon Hawk.
Bastila's eyes widened, "We're too late." she squeaked, "Is there any other way around to the Hawk, Carth?" she asked.
"No, there's only one way through to the docking area." he said, scowling, "But hey, we've already got one Sith Lord hanging around with us, why not have another?" he asked sarcastically.
I glared at him, "Because, unlike Malak, I have no intention of killing you. Although your pissy attitude isn't doing much for my lack of homicidal tendencies." I snapped. He glared at me.
"This is no time to argue!" Bastila interrupted.
"You're right. If we're going to have to go past him, we may as well do it on our own terms." I said, nodding, "Bastila, you're bait. Carth, stay with her, and don't let him near her. I'll -" I activated my stealth belt and vanished, "-sneak around behind him, then when I distract him, you two get past him, and then we'll all be between him and the Hawk - the strategy from there is: run away. Can you do that?"
"Works for me." Bastila said, nodding. Carth continued to sulk, but nodded slightly.
I waited by the doors, and when Malak walked through them, I followed him, keeping my steps in time with his so he couldn't hear me. I watched Bastila, who clearly wasn't sure if I was still there, and looked scared. But she stood tall and held her ground, "Darth Malak!" she hissed.
"I hope you weren't thinking of leaving so soon, Bastila." Malak said, his tone containing the same type of veiled threat that Davik's had when he had told me I was his 'guest'. "I've spent far too much energy hunting down you and your companions to let you get away from me now." he glanced around, "Where is your 'friend', anyway? Has he abandoned you to my 'mercy'?" he asked, amused.
I smirked, and decided now was the right time to attack him. I drew my lightsaber, which killed the stealth field, and lunged at him. I hadn't expected him to react in time, but he did. He blocked me, and sent me flying backwards with Force push. I landed on my feet, and laughed, "Long time no see, Malak." I said brightly.
He snorted, "I had to see for myself if it was true. Even now I can hardly believe my eyes... tell me, why did the Jedi spare you? Is it vengeance you seek at this reunion?"
"Vengeance?" I asked too-innocently, "Don't see why I'd want vengeance. I mean, you only tried to kill me." I said, smirking. "Besides, this encounter wasn't my choice. I was just heading back to my ship." I added, pointing over my shoulder at the Hawk.
Malak rolled his eyes, "Whether you chose to be here is irrelevant. I shall now finish what I started, Reven. You will die here."
"That may be, but it certainly won't happen today." I said cheerfully. Malak took a swing at me with his lightsaber, and I leaned back to dodge it. The resulting lack of balance meant I fell, but I used the Force to catch me and leapt onto the ceiling.
Malak glared, "I hate when you do that." he muttered.
I laughed, "Gotta tell you something, Malak." I said cheerfully, as I blocked his attempt to strike me with his lightsaber, "The Sith got a few things right. But not as many as you'd like to think." I pushed off the ceiling, flipped over again, kicked Malak in the forehead and landed in front of him on my feet. "Passion does fuel the Force. It's amazing, really. But positive emotions give you much more power than negative." I said, laughing.
Malak took a swing at my neck. I ducked it and kicked out at his legs. He managed to lift his foot to avoid my kick, and stepped on my ankle, pinning me down.
I looked up at where Carth and Bastila had been, to see they were gone. I glanced behind me to see Bastila hesitating in the doorway, and Carth trying to convince her to leave without me, "Get gone, Princess!" I shouted.
Malak's blade hovered at my throat. I brought my own lightsaber up to hold his away, but he knocked it out of my hand with Force lightening. I should never have taught him that trick. I was unarmed and defenceless. "Time to die, Revan." Malak said, triumphantly.
I raised an eyebrow at him, "That's what you think."
But before I could cast Force lightening on his lightsaber, Bastila threw her lightsaber at Malak - he had to release me to block it. "This isn't over, Malak!" Bastila shouted, catching her weapon and holding it aggressively.
Malak seemed most amused, "Your friends do not give up easily, Revan; you always could inspire loyalty. But even the three of you together cannot stand against my power!"
I stood up and summoned my lightsaber back to me, "Says you, Metal Mouth." I said, smirking.
Malak sent both Bastila and I flying with Force wave. I landed unceremoniously on my ass, on the other side of the door. Bastila hit the door frame, and I was surprised she wasn't knocked unconscious, though I think she must have suffered some sort of brain damage from the impact, because she shouted to us, "I'll hold Malak off. You two get out of here! Find the Star Forge!" and she lunged at Malak, swinging her lightsaber viciously at him, with a war cry of, "For the Jedi!" Only a very brave, very foolish, or very insane person would attack a Sith Lord on her own.
I saw the victorious glint in Malak's eyes as I picked myself up. He blocked her attack with his lightsaber, and with a wave of his free hand, the door slammed closed in front of me. "No!" I shouted, rushing to the door. I tried to slice it, I tried to use the Force to open it, but nothing worked. "Damn it!" I yelled, hitting the door with my fist.
"Come on, we have to get to the Ebon Hawk!" Carth said, grabbing my arm.
"I'm not leaving her." I hissed, trying to pry the door open with my bare hands.
"Bastila doesn't stand a chance against Malak, but we can't help her. Not here." Carth said, dragging me away from the door. The only reason he was able to do so was because I knew he was right. "She sacrificed herself so we could get away. We can't let her sacrifice be in vain! Come on!"
I frowned and turned to follow Carth to the ship. There was nothing else I could do.
What is it about me that inspires people to take a suicide-dive at various Sith, for my sake? I mean, first there was that guy on the Endar Spire who fought Bandon to let me get to the escape pods... now Bastila takes on Malak himself, to let me get away.
* * *
"Where is Bastila? What happened on that ship?" Jolee asked, as soon as we had gotten a safe distance away from the Leviathan.
"We ran into Malak." Carth said, sighing, "He would have killed us, but Bastila sacrificed herself so we could get away."
"I could have beaten him if she hadn't distracted me." I muttered.
"You mean she's... she's dead?" Mission asked, horrified.
"Bah. Malak won't kill her, don't be foolish." Jolee snapped, "He'll want to use her battle meditation against the Republic. Turn her to the dark side and the Sith will always be victorious."
"We have to rescue her." I said. I was terrified that Malak would hurt her. Even if he was intent on turning her to the dark side - I know what he did to Bandon.
"Not so fast." Carth snapped, "We've got a bigger issue to deal with here. They deserve to know the truth about you. Do you want to tell them what Saul said, or should I?"
I smirked darkly, "Or, Misson or Jolee could tell you." I said.
"Wh-what?!" Carth spluttered.
Mission blinked, "I'm assuming he's talking about your big secret you told me on Dantooine?" she asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I already knew." Jolee said, smirking.
Carth groaned, "Who on this ship doesn't know Damien is really Darth Revan?" he demanded.
Juhani blinked, surprised, "Revan?!" she asked.
Canderous sniggered, "Makes sense." he noted.
T3-M4 beeped a few times. Translated, it said it was unaware of the fact I am Revan, but it makes no difference to it.
[Mission told me of your identity some time after we landed on Tatooine.] Zaalbar informed me. So I was right - Wookiees are good at keeping secrets.
Carth seemed to be lost for words. "You- are you people telling me that you don't care?!" he demanded, "The whole time we've been chasing after Malak we've had his old Sith Master right at our side; listening to our secrets; hearing our plans! How do we know Revan won't suddenly turn on us?!"
I rolled my eyes, and grabbed Carth's wrist, forcing him to point his pet blaster at my head, "Go on. Shoot me. I know it's what you want." I said flatly.
Everyone stared at me. "What?" Carth demanded, trying to pull his hand away from me. I didn't let go.
"You heard me. You told me not long ago you'd love to put a blaster to Revan's head. Well, was that all you wanted, or did you want to shoot Revan's brains out as well? Because here's your chance!"
"I... damn it, you know I can't do that!" he snapped, "You were right on the bridge of the Leviathan - you're the only one who can stop Malak. I can't kill you... yet."
I smirked darkly, "I'm glad you can see reason."
"You did ask me - very nicely - not to kill you right away when I found out your big secret." he said bitterly, pulling his hand away from me.
"And I'm thankful." I said, sighing slightly with relief.
"It, uh... it all makes sense now... Revan." Carth said, frowning, "I've watched you, I've seen your cruelty. I've seen your... your dark side. Hell, you almost killed my son! And now this! I don't know if I can trust you. Can any of us?"
I sighed, "I told you on Dantooine. You're right not to trust me. I'm dangerous, and I know what I'm capable of." I closed my eyes, "But I'm not your enemy anymore, Carth. I want to try to make up for what I've done."
"But... you're the one responsible for the death of my wife, the destruction of my home world! You destroyed my life!" Carth yelled.
"It was Saul Karath who commanded the fleet that attacked your people, Onasi." Canderous interrupted. I was surprised he was standing up for me, "And it was Malak who gave the order. You know this."
Carth glared at Canderous for this. I sighed, "That may be so, Canderous." I said, frowning, "But I was the one who told him Telos' shipyards were a tactical target to take out. He was the one who decided overkill would be fun, but I pointed him in that direction."
Canderous shrugged, "Suit yourself. I was just trying to point out the flaw in Onasi's logic."
"Thank you, Canderous. But I don't deserve it." I said, frowning at the ground, "I know it's my fault."
Carth seemed confused by this, "Are you saying you feel guilty for it?" he asked.
"There is no way I can apologise enough for it. And for the record, that mind-trick I pulled on Karath used the guilt trip I got after you told me what happened to your family, when we were on Dantooine."
Carth blinked, "Well, the others seem to trust you... and I don't see any other way that we can stop the Sith. And I suppose that Malak is the real enemy here... I really don't have any other choice, do I?"
I sighed, "I am sorry. I wouldn't have lied to any of you if I hadn't been afraid you'd react badly. I think Carth's proved my fears were well founded, huh?"
"Don't worry - I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of my assignments or this mission." Carth said flatly, "But don't forget: I've sworn an oath to defend the Republic! As long as this mission stays on course I'll stick with you. But I won't let you betray the Republic under any circumstances!"
"I won't betray the Republic again, Carth." I said, smiling, "I never make the same mistake twice."
"So I guess that's it then... we keep going." Carth said, determinedly, "We've still got one more Star Map to uncover if we're going to find that Star Forge and save Bastila, so let's do it before it's too late."
* * *